


Just Dudes Being Bros

by SylvanFreckles



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Dancing, Destiel - Freeform, Domestic Castiel/Dean Winchester, Domestic Fluff, Dudes Being Bros, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, M/M, Romance, bless him, hand-holding, just something silly, sam is kinda clueless, silliness for the sake of silliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2020-12-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:48:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,005
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27947798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SylvanFreckles/pseuds/SylvanFreckles
Summary: All in all, Sam was really glad that Dean had a best friend like Castiel. They were happy, he was happy...as long as everyone was happy, what was there to worry about? (Five times Sam appreciated Dean and Cas's friendship...and one time he finally got the hint.)
Relationships: Castiel & Dean Winchester & Sam Winchester, Castiel/Dean Winchester
Comments: 8
Kudos: 164





	Just Dudes Being Bros

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not even sorry for this. Not even a little.
> 
> I started this around the same time I wrote “Taking It Slow”, but left it half-finished and abandoned in my hard drive until now. After the crazy day I had, though, I just had to do something.

They didn't often go shopping together, partly because Dean usually had meticulous list of what he needed while Sam made more of a vague plan and they drove each other crazy. But Cas wanted to go shopping and Sam needed to pick up some things for himself...so Dean decided it was time for a family outing.

That was strange. Normally Dean would have just handed Cas his list and told him to stick to it, then disappeared deeper into the bunker to beat his frustrations out on a boxing dummy. Though Sam didn't know why Dean would be frustrated that Sam and Cas were going shopping together. He could have come along any time.

He was glad that the former angel had talked Dean around to this trip, though. It turned out to be fun to go together, even if Dean and Cas spent most of the time whispering to each other and holding hands while Sam pushed the cart.

Man, he hadn't held hands with a best friend in a long time. First grade maybe? It must be nice to be that close to someone, to have a best friend who would hold your hand out in public no matter how old you were. Dean was over forty, and Cas was literally thousands of years old (if not millions—but by best guess Jimmy Novak would have been forty-three, so they went with that usually), but their friendship was just so deep they didn't care who saw them holding hands.

Sam made eye contact with an older woman who was watching his brother and his brother's best friend walking down the aisle. She was smiling fondly, so he gave her a friendly nod. “Aren't best friends the best?” he asked.

He never really understood why she gave him such a funny look.

**(2)**

They'd obviously gone way, way off the list at the store, but for once Dean didn't seem to mind. Cas had talked him in to buying some exotic ingredients, listing out recipes he'd been wanting to try ever since he became human.

It was adorable. Sam remembered having a best friend he could share hobbies with. Granted, it had only been for a few weeks before Dad dragged them to another city, but it was a good few weeks. Dean always loved cooking so much, at least he had someone he could share that with now.

Sam settled down in a chair in the kitchen, not wanting to lose the warm, familial atmosphere from their shopping excursion. Dean was carefully tying an apron on Cas, smoothing it down over his chest and adjusting the neck strap behind his collar. It was probably Cas's first time wearing an apron like this, so it was so sweet of Dean to make sure his best friend was wearing it properly.

Then two of them bent their heads together over a battered cookbook they'd found at a second-hand bookstore. From what Sam could hear they were going to attempt to make breaded chicken cutlets, and as he watched Dean carefully talk Cas through each ingredient he started to appreciate the effort his brother put into cooking a little more.

They had to pound the chicken breasts flat, and apparently Cas was wielding the meat tenderizer wrong as Dean stepped up behind him and wrapped his arms around the former angel to guide his hands. From his perch at the table Sam could see how Dean had his hands around Cas's wrists and murmured instructions into his ears as they pounded the chicken together.

That was nice. Dean was stepping out of his comfort zone, leaving his personal space behind to teach his best friend how to prepare a chicken cutlet for breading. Sam was pretty sure Dean could have taught Cas without standing so close to him, but maybe there was a secret technique that required that much physical contact.

He rested his chin in his hand and sighed. If only he had a best friend like that.

**(3)**

Another thing Sam could appreciate about Dean and Cas's friendship was the way the former angel was opening his brother's mind to different kinds of music. Not that Sam had _much_ of a grudge about the copious amounts of mullet rock Dean kept in his car, but it was nice to listen to some classic jazz or new age or something like that.

Cas had found a huge stash of vinyl records in one of the storage rooms and was slowly working through them while the three of them researched or worked around the bunker or just hung out together. Sam had heard Cas humming along and swaying with the music, and when he glanced at his brother he usually saw Dean watching Cas with a fond smile on his face.

Man. It must be great to watch your best friend discover the world like that. Hearing music with human ears for the first time, discovering the sounds he liked best...Sam started to wonder if he should find new music to introduce Cas to, so the former angel didn't feel like Sam cared about him less than Dean did.

They had been researching some Native legends about the mounds near Medicine Creek when Cas abruptly pushed himself to his feet, holding one hand out to Dean. Sam watched in amusement as his brother took the offered hand and was pulled into a dance. Arms twined around each other, swaying to the music, Cas softly singing in Dean's ear (though a little out of tune, but that was okay).

As Sam watched Cas lifted his hand and spun Dean around, then pulled him into a ballroom-style dip that had Dean crinkling up his eyes with laughter.

Man. Sam had danced with his best friend once before, when Dad had actually stayed around long enough for them to go to one of the school's dances. He'd been tutoring Chelsea in geometry and they went to the dance as part of their friend group, and she'd tugged him out on the floor to dance. He still remembered stepping on her feet.

Dean and Cas weren't stepping on each other's feet as they continued the dance. Maybe that was just because they were such good friends.

**(4)**

Sam couldn't believe it. Dean and Cas were having a movie night to watch _Akeelah and the Bee_. He was so used to the Dean Cave being filled with the sounds of gunshots and horses and explosions he almost didn't recognize it.

Cas invited him to join, though Dean looked a little disgruntled. Sam didn't understand why, it wasn't like he was going to take up too much space—not with Dean and Cas sharing the love seat like that. That left the big, comfy arm chair all for Sam, and he felt so bad he offered to swap with Cas so the oldest member of their family could have the most comfortable spot...but the look Dean shot him made him change his mind.

After all, the former angel was still relatively new to experiences like watching a movie together. He probably just wanted to sit with his best friend for something like this—maybe Dean was going to comfort him through any intense scenes.

Sam was so entranced by the story of a young girl from South Los Angeles trying to make it to the National Spelling Bee he didn’t really notice that Dean and Cas weren’t really paying attention. They seemed to be discussing something, judging by how close their faces are..

Dean's probably explaining spelling bees to Cas. Man. Sam had this best friend once, when he was in sixth grade, who tried to get him to participate in the school's spelling bee. Sam had refused, knowing his father would be pulling them out of the school all too quickly to head off to the next hunt.

He wished he had a best friend who encouraged his interests in academic competition, the way Akeelah had Dylan and Javier. Or the way Dean had Cas, as Sam had once seen the former angel reciting poetry to Dean, obviously trying to awaken the older Winchester's literary interests.

Funny. Sam hadn't recognized the poem. Maybe Cas had written it himself, and was trying to encourage Dean to try new outlets for creativity.

He didn't know why Cas would be reciting a love poem for Dean, anyway. That was a weird thing to do with your best friend.

**(5)**

The cooking lessons, so far, had been a success—so Sam was a little disappointed when he learned Dean and Cas wanted to go out and have dinner by themselves.

It made sense, he supposed. Sometimes you wanted to do something with your best friend without your brother. He remembered plenty of times he hadn't wanted Dean hanging around...okay, maybe a couple of times. Dean was ditching Sam more often than not, though that was usually to hang out with a girl. Not a best friend. But times changed, and they all got older, and the two of them had always had that whole “profound bond” thing going.

Man. He supposed the two of them had earned it. Sam remembered all the times Dean and Cas had let something get in the way of their friendship and how miserable his brother was during those times. It was almost weird, almost more like the time Sam had to leave his first girlfriend rather than all the times he'd gotten pulled away from his best friend.

But as Dean and Cas prepared to leave—Dean wearing a new, light-blue button-up that matched Cas's eyes and Cas wearing those dark jeans that always made Dean swallow and look away (Sam didn't understand why his brother was so bothered by the former angel wearing tight jeans)—Sam tried to wave them off with a smile.

It was just one night a week, he rationalized. A man had to have private time with his best friend once a week, right? And as long as Dean didn't drag Cas around to dive bars or teach him to hustle pool or try to dine-and-dash or anything like that, Sam couldn't see the harm in it.

He didn't understand why Dean glared at him when he tried to give Cas advice on hooking up at the bar.

**(+1)**

Sam wandered into the library, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He'd been up researching way too late and hadn't heard Dean and Cas get back from their weekly guys' night out. He hadn't heard them leave either, but they always went out on Wednesdays. He supposed it was some kind of best friends' trivia night somewhere.

To his surprise, they were actually in the library. He was about to open his mouth to greet them when he finally registered something strange about their behavior.

They were wearing pajamas, which wasn't strange in and of itself, but the pajamas were mismatched. Cas's shirt obviously went with Dean's pants, and Dean was just wearing an athletic undershirt that showed off his biceps and collarbone. But even that...that wasn't they weirdest thing.

Cas was sitting in Dean's lap. He was straddling it, actually, with his arms around Dean's neck.

They were kissing. And not the way best friends sometimes did, when you swore to your younger brother that it was just practice and didn't really count. Not the kind he gave you ten bucks to forget about before Dad came home. This was the real kind, the kind you saw from two people who maybe loved each other more than just as best friends.

Sam's jaw fell open as finally... _finally_...the pieces fell into place.

“Oh my god! You guys are gay!”

* * *

There would later be a discussion that actually as a former interdimensional being Cas was Pan, and Dean was Bi, but at least Sam was finally on the right track. Man. He wished he had a best friend to fall in love with and live happily ever after.

**Author's Note:**

> Twelve Days of Fictmas starts on the thirteenth! Twelve stories in a row, one a day going from this Sunday through Christmas Eve, each story set in a different fandom.


End file.
